Tulsa tested on terrorist attack

Posted: Friday, August 04, 2000

KELLY KURTThe Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. - It began Thursday morning with a woman's scream. Suddenly, Tulsa found itself the target of a terrorist attack played out in cities nationwide - a fake aimed at preventing the real thing.

Something exploded. Men, women and children rushed from the Pavilion building on the Tulsa fairgrounds as the three-hour drill got under way. Arriving firefighters jumped from their trucks, unsure what brought the agonizing screams.

Their next moves all came under the watch of federal evaluators who want to know whether Tulsa is ready to respond to a real chemical weapons attack.

The exercise came as part of training legislated after the Oklahoma City bombing and a nerve gas attack on a Tokyo subway. Congress provided funding to enhance the response in incidents involving nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism.

The U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command is providing the training to Tulsa and 119 other cities nationwide. Oklahoma City held a similar drill earlier this year.

"This is free play," said Al Seitzinger, who coordinated Thursday's mass casualty exercise. "You're going to see some things done great, and you're going to see some things that need improvement."

On the good side: Firefighters held back. The victims' reactions indicated chemical exposure. The firefighters could risk contamination rushing into the melee.

On the other side: Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz noted with disappointment that some deputies arrived on the scene in masks that offered no protection against the blistering chemical agent being simulated.

Victims covered in fake blood or with shrapnel protruding from their waists stumbled into the morning sun. "Help! I can't see," some cried. Please, help me!"

Fire Capt. Hubert Rouse didn't know mid-drill Thursday how the department was doing. But inevitably, he said, "there's going to be some things we can improve."